Heard around the West

How
low-flow can you go? In Redmond, Wash., the
developer of a "Green Built" resort community touts its toilets as
so advanced, they adapt to individual behavior, reports the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer. The Australian-made Caroma toilets require
their users to decide how much water to flush with: one button for
No. 1 and another for No. 2. This is all quite nice for
water-efficiency, local critics say. But, they add, there’s
more to being green than simply installing smarter potties.

The leader of a
citizens’ group opposing the "Green
Built Lodge at Redmond Ridge" has a hard time believing that a
high-density development, going up in the forests of King
County’s designated rural zone, can ever be considered
"green." "Was that before or after they mowed down the trees?"
sniffs activist Joseph Elfelt. Peter Orser, a vice president for
the developer, Quadrant, defends the project: He points out that a
forest setting is exactly what draws buyers — many of whom
consider themselves environmentalists. "Up here, this is really
important to people," Orser says. As for the Green Built
certification — the first issued by the National Home
Builders Association — Orser calls the tag a great marketing
tool.

An
Internet message allegedly from California
made the rounds recently after a deep earthquake rattled Seattle,
Wash. "(The) earthquake was just a warning," began the note to the
people of Washington and Oregon. "Sell us your power, give back our
sunshine and take back your rain, and we’ll take back our
earthquakes."

If
Lewis and Clark were alive today, how do you
think they’d travel? By high-speed Jet Ski, of course, say
manufacturers of the polluting and accident-prone "personal
watercraft." They want Jet Skiers to retrace the Northwestern
journey of Lewis and Clark for a publicity stunt, which greatly
annoys the national environmental group Bluewater Network, a foe of
motorized recreation. The network’s Sean Smith points out
that commemorating the 200-year-old expedition by Jet Ski is akin
to "driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee along the forced march of
Cherokee Indians over the Trail of Tears."

The West may lead the
way in building monster homes and starter
castles, but in 2002, an ultimate houseboat will get a few people
out of their Winnebagos and onto the sea. For a starting price of
$2 million, reports Forbes.com, "cabin-buyers" on "The World of
Residensea" can live and travel on a 12-deck, 644-foot-long
floating luxury condo that even offers "simulated golf." Meanwhile,
some land-based recreational vehicles have become so bloated they
resemble mansions on wheels, reports the Albuquerque Journal. At
the city’s annual International Balloon Fiesta, thousands of
RVs arrived in convoys, with the priciest looking "like fortresses
with all the conveniences of an average home." One gorilla in the
group weighed 42,000 pounds and carried a 500-horsepower engine,
plus 235 gallons of diesel fuel, perhaps because the vehicle only
got 6 1/2 miles per gallon. The owner of the Country Coach Prevost
Conversion demurred when asked if his rig — costing $700,000
new — could be described as an investment. "It’s a
toy," said Paul Chelew.

Seattle folksinger and writer Michael
Tomlinson says it’s time to take up
arms against appliances, and to have a good time doing it. He came
up with the idea of throwing an "Appliance Party" after overhearing
a man in a supermarket callously use his cell phone to break up
with his girlfriend. The cashier, who couldn’t help
overhearing, was moved to tears, but the man seemed more engrossed
in buying his Cheetos and cookies. Tomlinson says he looks forward
to "slammin’ a jack-stand through the picture tube" of his
TV, along with a few other appliances that have gotten his goat,
including an answering machine "that lots of people have wanted to
pummel" and a "phone with a ring like a sick hyena."

In Berkeley,
Calif., domestic animals may not have heard,
but they now enjoy an elevated status. The city council recently
voted to change the wording in city laws from "pet owner" to
"owner/guardian." Supporters of the unanimous vote brought a
variety of dogs and a large white rabbit to the meeting to urge and
celebrate the yes vote. In treating "companion animals" with more
respect, Berkeley joins Boulder, Colo., and West Hollywood, Calif.